Charles Day, who formerly worked in accounting for the city of Edmonds and the University of Washington, has been selected as the newest member of the Stevens Hospital board.
He is the first of two new members who will be appointed to the board, which oversees the taxpayer-supported hospital, its clinics and related businesses.
Day was appointed Dec. 15. The board will announce the second appointment in January.
Voters approved increasing the size of the board from three to five members in the November general election.
The move to expand the board began 10 months ago when residents requested the change, saying it would make the board more responsive to the public.
Day said he would like to improve communication between voters and the hospital, possibly through having a specific phone number or e-mail address people can contact with questions or concerns.
“I feel there needs to be a real grass-roots effort in this area to try to improve the image, the way the hospital is perceived by the public,” Day said.
Day, 67, ran for the hospital board in 1997 against Fred Langer, who is now board president. After coming in third in the primary, Day said he later backed Langer in the general election.
He has lived in Edmonds since 1970. The Seattle University graduate majored in accounting and has worked in the profession for more than 38 years.
While at the UW, he audited academic departments, as well as some of the university’s health care operations, including patient billing, its clinics and Harborview Medical Center.
He left that job in 1986 and worked for the city of Edmonds for 11 years, retiring in 1997. While there, Day helped the city increase its revenue by $500,000, said former Edmonds Mayor Laura Hall. He also discovered that the city had paid too much to the state in utility taxes.
He now is working temporarily in accounting for an advertising agency owned by a friend.
Day said he plans to run for election in November. Of the two new positions, the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes in the November election will serve a six-year term. The other board member will serve for four years.
In other action, the hospital and its businesses are expected to end this year with an overall loss of $2 million, but hope to break even in 2005. Earlier this year, the hospital brought in consultants to help trim expenses and get the organization on firm financial footing.
The hospital says that as a result of the consultations, so far it has implemented changes that will save it $4.1 million.
Sharon Salyer writes for The Herald in Everett.
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